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Aleister Crowley

95 quotes

• “I was in the death struggle with self: God and Satan fought for my soul those three long hours. God conquered — now I have only one doubt left — which of the twain was God?”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Aceldama: A Place To Bury Strangers In (1898) Preface

• “Religion in life is either an amusement and a soporific, or a sham and a swindle.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Testament of Magdalen Blair", in The Equinox, Vol. 1, No. 10 (1913)

• “I am inclined to agree with the Head Master of Eton that pæderastic passions among schoolboys 'do no harm'; further, I think them the only redeeming feature of sexual life at public schools.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Energized Enthusiasm: A Note On Theurgy" in The Equinox Vol. 1 no. 9 (Spring 1913)

• “Sit still. Stop thinking. Shut up. Get out! The first two of these instructions comprise the whole of the technique of Yoga. The last two are of a sublimity which it would be improper to expound in this present elementary stage.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Eight Lectures On Yoga (1939) Ch. 4

• “The best models of English writing are Shakespeare and the Old Testament, especially the book of Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. ... In writing English the most important quality that you can acquire is style. It makes all the difference to anyone who reads what you write, whether you use the best phrases in the best way.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: First and only letter to his son Aleister Ataturk (May 1947), as quoted in Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley (2000) by Lawrence Sutin, p. 416

• “Every man and every woman is a star.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “These are fools that men adore; both their Gods & their men are fools. This verse establishes uncompromisingly that all Gods — G capital, that is to say, 'true Gods' — and all men deified by legend or deceit — that is to say, false gods' — are fools. How come? It is a key. Distinction is clearly made between the two types: one are Gods; the other is men.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bending down, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Love is the law, love under will.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “To me! To me!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am alone. There is no God where I am.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Now a curse upon Because and his kin!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “May Because be accursed for ever!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “...Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “But exceed! exceed!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Book of the Law is Written and Concealed”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The study of this Book is forbidden. It is wise to destroy this copy after the first reading. Whosoever disregards this does so at his own risk and peril. These are most dire.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. Love is the law, love under will.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The old spelling MAGICK has been adopted throughout in order to distinguish the Science of the Magi from all its counterfeits.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Part II: Magick (1912)

• “This book is for ALL: for every man, woman, and child. My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited, by my use of technical terms. It has attracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an escape from reality. I myself was first consciously drawn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only too many scientific and practical minds, such as I most designed to influence. But MAGICK is for ALL.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I must make MAGICK the essential factor in the life of ALL. In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and justify my position by formulating a definition of MAGICK and setting forth its main principles in such a way that ALL may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every relation with every other human being and every circumstance, depend upon MAGICK and the right comprehension and right application thereof.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The essence of MAGICK is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art of government. The Aim is simply prosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practice beset with briars. In the same way MAGICK is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and it is part of the Training to use the passive voice. This is, however, a matter of Initiation rather than of Magick in its ordinary sense. It is not my fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means singleness. God is one. The Wand is not a Wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. If you wish to invoke Venus, you do not succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to render his Circle absolutely impregnable.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Thou spiritual Sun! Satan, Thou Eye, Thou Lust! Cry aloud! Cry aloud! Whirl the Wheel, O my Father, O Satan, O Sun! Thou, the Saviour! Silence! Give me Thy Secret! Give me suck, Thou Phallus, Thou Sun! Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust! Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust! Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust! Thou self-caused, self-determined, exalted, Most High!”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Now this word SABAF, being by number Three score and Ten, is a name of Ayin, the Eye, and the Devil our Lord, and the Goat of Mendes. He is the Lord of the Sabbath of the Adepts, and is Satan, therefore also the Sun, whose number of Magick is 666, the seal of His servant the BEAST.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Acts which are essentially dishonourable must not be done; they would be justified only by calm contemplation of their correctness in abstract cases.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Love is a virtue; it grows stronger and purer and less selfish by applying it to what it loathes; but theft is a vice involving the slave-idea that one's neighbor is superior to oneself.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Crime, folly, sickness and all phenomena must be contemplated with complete freedom from fear aversion or shame. Otherwise we shall fail to see accurately, and interpret intelligently; in which case we shall be unable to outwit and outfight them.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “It has always been fatal when somebody finds out too much too suddenly. If John Huss had cackled more like a hen, he might have survived Michaelmas, and been esteemed for his eggs. The last fifty years have laid the axe of analysis to the root of every axiom; they are triflers who content themselves with lopping the blossoming twigs of our beliefs, or the boughs of our intellectual instruments. We can no longer assert any single proposition, unless we guard ourselves by enumerating countless conditions which must be assumed.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Magician must be wary in his use of his powers; he must make every act not only accord with his Will, but with the properties of his position at the time. It might be my Will to reach the foot of a cliff; but the easiest way — also the speediest, most direct least obstructed, the way of minimum effort — would be simply to jump. I should have destroyed my Will in the act of fulfilling it, or what I mistook for it; for the True Will has no goal; its nature being To Go.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A parabola is bound by one law which fixes its relations with two straight lines at every point; yet it has no end short of infinity, and it continually changes its direction. The Initiate who is aware Who he is can always check is conduct by reference to the determinants of his curve, and calculate his past, his future, his bearings, and his proper course at any assigned moment; he can even comprehend himself as a simple idea.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “His own infinity becomes zero in relation to that of the least fragment of the solid. He hardly exists at all. Trillions multiplies by trillions of trillions of such as he could not cross the frontier even of breadth, the idea which he came to guess at only because he felt himself bound by some mysterious power.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The discovery of radioactivity created a momentary chaos in chemistry and physics; but it soon led to a fuller interpretation of the old ideas. It dispersed many difficulties, harmonized many discords, and — yea, more! It shewed the substance of Universe as a simplicity of Light and Life, manners to compose atoms, themselves capable of deeper self-realization through fresh complexities and organizations, each with its own peculiar powers and pleasures, each pursuing its path through the world where all things are possible.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Inmost is one with the Inmost; yet the form of the One is not the form of the other; intimacy exacts fitness. He therefore who liveth by air, let him not be bold to breathe water. But mastery cometh by measure: to him who with labour, courage, and caution giveth his life to understand all that doth encompass him, and to prevail against it, shall be increase. "The word of Sin is Restriction": seek therefore Righteousness, enquiring into Iniquity, and fortify thyself to overcome it.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “In this book it is spoken of the Sephiroth and the Paths; of Spirits and Conjurations; of Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether these exist or not. By doing certain things certain results will follow; students are most earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philosophic validity to any of them.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is little danger that any student, however idle or stupid, will fail to get some result; but there is great danger that he will be led astray, obsessed and overwhelmed by his results, even though it be by those which it is necessary that he should attain. Too often, moreover, he mistaketh the first resting-place for the goal, and taketh off his armour as if he were a victor ere the fight is well begun. It is desirable that the student should never attach to any result the importance which it at first seems to possess.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Here again, there is no tabulation; for us it is left to sacrifice literary charm, and even some accuracy, in order to bring out the one great point. The cause of human sectarianism is not lack of sympathy in thought, but in speech; and this it is our not unambitious design to remedy.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the Company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name CHAOS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes. And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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